My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[cobracammer]

 
OK so last night I got back on it.  The new tube of TA-31 came in and I set to work on getting the backing plate sealed to the block with all of the associated gaskets.  I Spend about 20 to 30 minutes cleaning the surface of the front of the block.  I wanted to get any and all of the old gasket material off (with a straight edge) as well as get any oil residue off so it would seal up nice.  Also spent quite a bit of time wiping down the backing plate itself.  It was quite oily and I wanted to get it clean and dry.  I got the needed gaskets sealed to the block and then sealed those to the backing plate.  Having all of the correct bolts there inserted into my cardboard template was really convenient.  The only thing I had to do with each bolt was add 6 or 7 washers to hold the backing plate in place without the timing cover being on.  I finished up last night around 9pm, and will allow it to dry all day today.  Later tonight I will put on the large chain and ensure the colored links align correctly with the cams (which were already timed), install the chain guides,  seal up the gaskets to the timing cover, and install the snap ring.  If all goes well, It will be on to last the rockers this weekend.  I will post pictures this weekend.

[cobracammer]

Here is something neat.  I actually tracked down the builder for the 2005 Mustang GT with the 427 SOHC.  He said that the only thing that he could not get to work when putting in the cammer engine was the stock Tach.  He just installed an aftermarket tach to solve the problem....  but it sounds like I can just use the factory wiring harness as a donor.  Only disconnect what I don't need.  More to come on that as I get closer....  but atleast now I can talk to someone about the electronics who has done it in this car before  :0)

[cobracammer]

Ok lets start with the bad news first. I tried to get the broken bolt out with the removal tool and couldnt get it  I broke 3 drill bits trying, and its not worth wrecking the block for me. Before the head snapped off, there was sealer on the threads and there is sealer now over the hole. Fingers crossed

On a better note, everything back together and torqued to spec, and the valves clear!!!  I havent lashed the rockers yet, but all seems well as far as clearance. I am back to where I left off before the bent valves incident. The timing cover is back on, but i snapped a few photos before and after the chain install

[cobracammer]

Well,  yet another hiccup.  After I got everything buttoned up (as Pictured above), and the cylinder walls have all been machined so the intake valves no longer hit them, now I have PVC issues  LOL.  The first valve lashed (intake) was the #1 cylinder.   This time I now have piston contact when the rocker arm is lashed to 0.023.  If I back the rocker off some (which is outside the range of normal for the engine), then I don't get the contact.  However in taking with Jay, I believe I am just going to re-check the timing.  To me, it would seem that I am 1 dowel hole off from not having interference, however I will just retime it to be sure.

I am going to slide all of the rockers off except for Cylinder 1 and cylinder 6....  this time I am just going to leave the regular springs on there (as they are not that hard to rotate) to check (and with the rockers backed off, the piston doesn't touch the valve).  Luckily if I need to make any modification to the cam timing, it can be done without screwing up any of the assembly I have done so far.  Each time I get this close, I get stopped!  I cannot wait for the day where I can lash all 16 rockers and install the valve covers!  Then it will feel like progress.

As a positive, at least I was going super slow and did not bend anything.  As soon as I hit the hard stop.... I stopped for the night!

[fe66comet]

I have seen a lot of 500 cube 385 engines in late model Stangs. They have huge compartments to clear the 4.6 which is a monster wide engine. Too bad you can't get a bigger bottom end for the 4.6 modular design, more like a big block displacement.

[cobracammer]

So I went into the garage last night just to "See what I can see" without screwing anything up.  I turned the engine over until the intake valve hit and then turned the engine back a tiny bit....  then I started to back the Rocker adjuster nut off slowly...  each time slowly turning the engine to see if there is still PVC issues.  after about the 3rd adjustment, I was clear.  SO its definitely a timing issue.

I have tons of space on the exhaust valve.  I can actually see the exhaust valve closing when the intake is open as the piston comes up to the top of the cylinder.  I am sure I have quite a bit of leeway in adjusting before (or even if ) the exhaust valves ever have clearance issues.  I need to adjust the timing just a tad, but I also realize I need to recheck to see where it is before I can do so.

If I am not mistaken (and if I understand this correctly), I need to retard the passenger side cam to that the intake valve starts to open closer to TDC.  this way the piston is on its way back down the cylinder "sucking" in air/fuel as it does so.  I posed this question to Jay, but I also wanted to throw it out here since I know Jay has more on his mind at the moment:

So my cams are supposed to be 108 degrees centerline out of the box (Assuming I double checked).  Now, when reading Jays 519" build, he stated that in his experience, as the chain stretches, "the right cam retards about 2 degrees and the left cam actually advances 2 degrees"  as he was shooting for 110 degrees ATDC, he set the right cam to 108 degrees (so it would be at 110 degrees when the chain stretched) and the left cam at 112 degrees (so it would also be at 110 degrees when the chain stretched).

Now in my case, the Cams centerline is 108 degrees .... Shouldn't I be shooting for 106 degrees on the right cam (so I'm at 108 degrees when the chain stretches) and set the left cam at 110 degrees (so I am again at 108 when the chain stretches)?

I am probably missing some critical part so I wanted to throw this out for discussion since I need to re-verify my timing due to the PVC issues.

[cobracammer]

OK all, time to share my newest issues/problem... when do they end?  Now that I have fixed the valve to cylinder side wall issue, I found that I had PVC issues.  In talking with Jay, it seemed best to start back from scratch on the timing.  Since the front cover does not need to come off again to set the timing, I decided there's no time like the present. 
Last night I got the rockers all out of my way and installed the check spring and rocker (backed all the way off) on Cylinder 1-Intake.  I pulled the cam retainer plates off as well as the bolts that hold them on and loosened the center cam bolt.  After pulling the dowel out and re-aligning the cam sprocket  to be "straight up", I went about checking to ensure that the factory centerline advertised as 108* was true.  With the dowel in the correct location, the chains verified that they are in the correct location and the gears all verified, I put the Piston stop down the spark plug hole on cylinder 1.  After a few minutes I had TDC.... and just to be 100% sure,  I went back and forth 2 more times to ensure I landed on the same number (Somewhere around 33 degrees) before and after TDC.  So from this point, I know everything is in order and TDC is now indicated by my temporary pointer. 

Before I went any further, I unscrewed the piston stop and stored it away.  Since its an aluminum block, I have a plate of steel I temporarily bolt to an intake bolt hole and set up my magnetic base with dial indicator.  I placed the pin of the dial indicator on the spring retainer next to the rocker arm, and push it down so that I don't run out of "reach" as the valve is pushed down.  Turning the crank in a clockwise rotation (normal direction), I waited until the needle on the dial reached a stall point before heading in the opposite direction as the spring decompresses.  At this stall point (Max valve lift), I zeroed out the dial indicator.  Now turning the crankshaft in a counterclockwise rotation until I was at .015 (or 15 on my Jegs dial indicator).  From this point, I turned the crank again in the clockwise rotation until I reached 5 on my dial indicator (which is 0.005).  the reading on the degree wheel was 30 degrees ATDC.  Now that I marked down that value, I continued to turn the crank in the clockwise rotation until the needle hit "0" and started back around the dial.  When I was at 0.005 again (5 on my dial indicator), the degree wheel was at 52 degrees ATDC.  Since the degrees were already in ATDC, I added them together and divided by 2 to get a centerline of 41 degrees.....  ONE HELL OF A FAR CRY FROM 108* on the cam card.

So what I am gathering is that the piston hits TDC.... then on its way back down at about 41 crank degrees, the valve is open at its max.  The way the cam card reads is that the intake valve should be opened to it max at 108* after TDC.

Below is a picture of the degree wheel I am using.  Right to the right of the TDC yellow arrow is degrees marked with a black line (as opposed to in yellow when its to the left of the TDC arrow).  I got 30 degrees after TDC and 52 degrees after TDC.

Jay had pointed out that my dial indicator is in 0.0005 increments so rather than timing the engine at 0.05 Lift, I was timing the engine at 0.005 lift, but I should still come to roughly the same centerline doing it the way I was with my dial indicator.  At this point, I am open to any and all ideas.  I know for seasoned engine builders, the timing probably doesn't pose this much of an issue, but as much as this is becoming a HUGE pain in my ass, I still have a lot of fun learning new things and building this engine  :-)

[cobracammer]

Of note, I did just realize going through my pictures on Photobucket that I am using a different Dial indicator this time.  I am using the dial indicator I used to measure the main bearing oil clearances and when I timed the engine the 1st time, I was using the dial indicator that came with the degree wheel/timing set.....  I am going to switch out the dial indicators when I get home to see if there is any difference.  The one that came with the degree wheel is a lot more detailed (where as the simplistic one I am using now is very basic).  Just a thought/ shot in the dark

[cobracammer]

OK been staring at the picture of my degree wheel in a trance.  I figure this. (and this is more so I understand.... not so much the traditional way its probably handled)

I came to 30 degrees ATDC and 52 degrees ATDC at 0.0005 lift (5 on my dial indicator).  This is a 22 degree split.  So I can assume that the way I am using my dial indicator, I need to get the cams to read 2 numbers at 0.0005 lift before the needle stalls on the indicator, and also at 0.0005 on its way back down.  These numbers came to:

97 degrees ATDC and 119 degrees ATDC. at 0.0005 lift.  This gives you 97+119 = 216 / 2 = 108

So from where my cams are now...I would need to retard them a lot.  From 30 degrees ATDC to 97 degrees ATDC is 67 crank degrees.  In reading back through Jay's 519" build, moving the cam dowel 1 hole moves the cam timing 1.5 cam degrees, or 3 crank degrees.  I would need to retard the cam about 22 holes.  This sounds like a lot, but the cam dowel holes are all only "slightly" misaligned....  when you move the dowel 1 hole, you barely have to move the cam in relation to the sprocket to get it to move.  The problem is that after a certain number of dowel movements, the 4 small bolts that holt the retainer plated to the sprocket to the cam wont align.  You would have to turn it until the 4 bolts around the circumference align again.  luckily, the dowel holes go all the way around the cam without a break.  Hopefully by the time I move it 22 times, the 4 bolt holes will be aligned again.

In looking at a picture of the cam on the racedyne website, 22 dowel holes seem to mean that the degree markings on the cam are about 28.6 degrees in the wrong place.  When I alight the "o" on the cam with the cam sprocket @ 90 degrees off the head surface, the "0" is truly 28.6 degrees retarded from that mark.  Again, I will check probably this weekend and report back.  I have noticed that when I go into the garage tired after work and the 4 hour round trip commute, things usually go wrong.  Weekends are way more relaxing.

[cobracammer]

Its been a long time since I have written with something other than a problem, but GOOD NEWS!  Everything above was correct!  The 28.6 degrees the cam was suspected of being off was exactly right!  However, with Jays insight, he figured out that turning the cam 22 adjustments of the cam dowel would not work due to the 4 bolt holes not re-aligning.  Jay had figured out what each link in the Large timing chain equated to in Crank degrees!  by taking the sprocket off the cam and retarding it 3 links on the chain, and re-installing with the dowel pin aligned right under the dot / the "0" on the cam itself, I was at a cam timing very close to 108 degrees.  Then all I had to do was advance the cam to get to the desired 102 degrees.  Tested and true!

Then the real test.  I rolled the cam around to the knee....  zero'd out the lash on the rocker and slowly rolled the timing wheel over to 15 degrees BTDC, 10 BTDC, 5..., TDC, 5 ATDC, 10 ATDC, 15.......  and no contact.  Not only no contact, but plenty of room to spare!

Super excited, I wanted to see the intake valve in action now.....  I am still able to look down the intake port.  Intake valve opens when it looks as though it should, closes when it looks as though it should!  This doesnt sound like exciting news, but when I was assuming the cam degree marks were correct from Racedyne, The valve was starting to open as the piston was still moving up...  as the valve cam down, the piston met it at a value BTDC.  This confused me to death.  This would have caused exhaust gas to blow back up the intake port.... Im sure BAD NEWS. 

I am so excited I can barely contain it.  I now just need to replace the checker spring with the real spring, and install the rest of the rockers back on the shaft.

Then off to the left cam.... with Jays wisdom in hand, I am quite sure this side will be no problem.  Without sounding like I am a born again religious fanatic, JAY IS AN FE WIZARD!

[TimeWarpF100]

Really watching this one!

Exciting build for sure

[R-WEST]

Man, talk about a guy who doesn't give up!!
You're definitely an inspiration!!   

[cobracammer]

Thanks guys.  Finished up the timing today on the left cam. Unfortunately, same deal with the marks being off. So after retarding the sprocket 3 links in the chain, i was at 106 degrees. So Right cam is 102 degrees and the left cam is now 106. As for the PVC, i have oodles of clearance now even at 0 lash!!!  Finished off today by torquing the tensioner bolts, idler bolt, head caps, cam sprocket bolts and getting the rockers all in place. Going to lash the rockers maybe tomorrow as well as torque all of the timing cover bolts to spec.  Almost ready for intake and oil pan!

[jayb]

It still seems odd to me that the colored links in the chain were off.  Whose chain was it?

[cobracammer]

Hey Jay
Went back and recounted and they were right. It was a chain from Precision Oil Pumps. Embarassing, but they weren't all off by 1 link, I was counting between the colored links and not counting the colored links themselves. Learning experience. LOL. Now im dying to see if the windage tray fits with no interference. :-)

Thanks again for all of your help with this build.